The Human Equation: Not Your Regular AI-centered Film

Think of AI and films, and the debate begins right off the bat. The sub-genre has been inundated with so many projects and proof of concepts that the plotline is predictable from the opening scene itself. But Karney Hatch’s The Human Equation manages to catch you by surprise. Cerebral and terrifying, the film, under 30-minutes, manages to layer the popular science fiction genre with psychological thriller and drama. While it explores the ethical debate of AI supremacy and its subsequent repercussions on humankind, Hatch provides a watertight script that makes the bottle film a thought-provoking, chilling, must watch that compels one to think beyond science and ethics. 

At a time when discussions around data science centres and GPT models are rife with disapproval and begrudging acceptance, The Human Equation delves deeper. The premise centres around an interview between an Oxford scientist and an android proxy, 11-days after the non-violent siege of the nuclear arsenal by the ASI’s collectives. Scientific and philosophical, the short, as its title suggests, creates a sterile and mathematical world of algorithms and programs.

Cassie Clare who plays the ASI has a tough responsibility to shoulder. She has to emote a rehearsed composure as a non-human that is designed to feign humanness. The switch between her structured levels of being robotically programmed to deliver human quotient into her software to ease her interviewee is a display of sheer brilliance in her craft and skill in understanding her subject well. There is a calculated elegance and restraint in her movements that makes the ASI she portrays an eerily convincing piece of human invention.

The only other actor complimenting her performance is the Oxford scientist, Professor Lacan (Rowan Polonski). He brings to the story the necessary gravitas, his anxiety-ridden face, the unsteady gestures make for a compelling view, as the two begin their wordplay laden with scientific jargon and ontology. Polonski is a superb match to Clare’s performance. The two, not only manage to retain their screen presence without overshadowing one another, but also create an unsettling, synthetic ambiance of human versus AI-driven world. The power dynamics askew from the start make for a riveting watch despite being heavily reliant on dialogues–dialogues that become the crux of the entire timeline.

The genius in Hatch’s writing shines through the fact that along with being a bottle film, it gives its cinematographer Jose Chica ample freedom to play from different angles. The intentional shots eventually cascade into creating the stifling world of Lacan and the ASI, a reality not too far from our own that makes it both uncomfortable and tangible. The surveillance footage, a smart addition, gives the necessary coldness to a film that even otherwise vicariously makes its audience experience the dread and imminent threat the world faces–an existential crisis that is simply put, one code away from disaster.

As the ASI begins to offer her solution to the human created crisis, the irony isn’t lost–the candidate picked for the assignment, an intellectual who brilliantly manoeuvres the conversation as he realises that he has been outplayed. Bernd Alder’s production design manages to successfully create the claustrophobic world of the ASI. It is aseptic and devoid of any life–a neutral tone of monochrome that is listless, making the viewer feel the desperation right from get-go. The music, although sparingly used, adds the necessary effect to the short, creating the gripping world of bleak possibilities and a constant run against time.

Contrary to most films of its genres, Hatch skips the usual tropes. No robots that malfunction or sets that reek of machines and hues of neon shades. Instead, he creates a world that is far more believable and hence, uncomfortable. A reality hidden in plain sight. A solution that isn’t human-centric, but mathematical driven to recreate a world best suited for those compliant to non-human intervention.

A must watch even if you aren’t a Sci-Fi aficionado, The Human Equation has a lot to offer that is bound to leave you wondering even after the credits roll.

Watch The Human Equation Sci-Fi Short Film Trailer